The Bradford Era

For a hunter, what goes out of the barrel is important. Today a wide variety of bullet weights and configurations are available to match the size of game being pursued. When hunting black bears, my choice is a bullet heavy in weight to penetrate a heavy, thick skinned and extremely hardy animal. The same caliber firearm can be used on a thin skinned white-tailed deer simply by changing the type and weight of bullet being used. And that?s were bullet selection comes into play. Over the years jacketed lead core bullets have been refined and constantly improved. There are a number of very effective bullets that fit this category. However, change is constant, always becoming new and improved. Gradually over time bullets that are equipped with polymer tips have become popular and have gained favor among hunters. Is this a new concept? Not really. Recently while digging deep into my inventory of .270 bullets, I found a box of bullets. Like it was yesterday, instantly there were vivid memories generated of the mid 1960s that took me back to a time when Dad shared with me the principals of reloading ammunition. The factory box contained 60, 130 grain Bronze Point bullets in .277 caliber. The Remington box displayed part number B22748. Research indicated that these bullets represented some of the first ?tipped bullets?. And when properly hand loaded, they could deliver exceptional downrange accuracy. In its day the bullet was loaded with the intent of harvesting deer. Even to this day, those familiar with the bronze point refer to the bullet as ?deer poison?. Despite the effectiveness of the bronze tipped bullet, jacketed lead core bullets remained a favorite. Manufacturers topped off their rounds with a wide variety of well-constructed bullets. However those who hand loaded were able to fine tune their ammunition. In many cases they exceeded the accuracy of commercially available ammunition at a reduced cost. For a period of time lead core jacketed bullets became the shooter?s choice. Bullet design was pretty darn good. Yet, those who hand loaded maintained the upper hand when it came to accuracy and overall performance. But even better days were ahead. A milestone in bullet performance was kicked up a notch when bullets were being topped off with a polymer tip. Jacketed lead core or solid copper, the tip was designed to be pushed back into the bullet?s core upon impact. The reaction would result in a greater degree of controlled expansion. But the bullet would provide an additional advantage. In general, bullets that are ?tipped? will have an increased ballistics coefficient that provides better bullet performance. Today I hand load two types of bullets for hunting that include jacketed lead core and copper. A jacketed lead core bullet tipped with a polymer tip holds the potential to take down any game animal found in North America. Provided that the weight of the bullet is properly sized to the animal being pursued and properly reloaded. A number of manufacturers producing copper bullets include polymer tipped bullets on a number of their products. But how do these bullets perform on game and when shooting targets? The word is superb. Just when bullet design has hit its peak, something better comes along. And this year it did. Thus far polymer tipped bullets have delivered outstanding results on the field and on the range. But one manufacturer has come up with something new. The folks at Hornady are producing a bullet topped off with a piece of machined aluminum. The A-Tip bullet evolved from a number of design changes beginning with their A-Max bullet that incorporated a polymer that resisted heat-related deformation. The A-Max provided the springboard to the creation of their ELD Match and ELD-X bullets. The difference between the two bullets was that the ?X? designation indicated that the bullet was an expanding bullet. The bullets proved to deliver exceptional accuracy. However Hornady was not about to be satisfied. Neal Emery, Marketing Communications Manager for Hornady said, ?The A-Tip bullet is designed around a custom aluminum tip. Each tip is machined for each caliber and weight of bullet. The tip design gives us the ability to maintain complete control over the bullet?s center of gravity to adjust the balance point of the bullet.? The manufacturing of the A-Tip bullet is precise. Bullets are manufactured and packaged sequentially. Keep in mind that the A-Tip is for the most part a custom product designed with the competitive shooter in mind. And when pricing this product, be aware of sticker shock, they are expensive. However the development of other bullets, those used for hunting may see additional refinement over the years to come. So where does all this fit into the scheme of things? In the mid-1960?s, components to reload ammunition were adequate, yet somewhat limited. Over time that has changed. Today the marketplace has a wide range of products to choose from for those of us who reload ammunition. Tipped bullets are one example of how the one component in the process continues to improve. Sure it takes time to develop a load. But for those who do there is a heightened sense of satisfaction and confidence knowing that the bullet exiting the barrel will be delivered with superb accuracy. With all the new products available to those who hand load, it is possible to develop custom ammo at a reasonable cost and avoid the hefty price associated with premium ammunition. Charlie Burchfield is an active member and past president of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, an active member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association, Outdoor Writers Assoc. of America and the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers. Gateway Outdoors e-mail is GWOutdoors@comcast.net